What was your reaction when New England’s first kickoff sailed out of the end zone?

I thought, 'Oh, this is how it is going to be [now that the kickoffs have been moved up to the 35].’

You returned the second one 17 yards, and then you broke an 84-yard return. What happened?

The second one, the coverage was kind of on my blockers quick. But I noticed some things about the coverage, and on the third one, I made an adjustment, and so did my blockers, and we exploded for one [for 84 yards]. When you have the kickoff return like we do, you expect that. It’s good to come out and have a return like that.

Do they give you any rules for how deep in the end zone you can return them?

Right now, I just catch it and go. I’m pretty sure we’ll have some rules later, but not now.

Temperature

Morning practice: 89; Heat index: 96

Evening practice: 81; Heat index: 85

Observation deck

• The Jaguars conducted their most interesting practice of camp with four different 11-on-11 drills as David Garrard and Blaine Gabbert took most of the snaps.

• Nine players missed the practice, and rookie LG Will Rackley left near the end of practice with his left hand wrapped in ice. His condition will be updated today. Rackley had been starting, and once he left, veteran free-agent signees Jason Spitz and Tony Moll played the position.

• Two players with head injuries (LB Clint Session and RB Rashad Jennings), OT Eben Britton (shoulder) and rookie DE Steven Wesley (right knee sprain) weren’t on the field. Kyle Bosworth played for Session, and Guy Whimper and Moll for Britton.

• Rookie S Chris Prosinski remained sidelined with a hamstring injury, but he was on the field. The injury is hurting his chance to catch Courtney Greene for a starting safety job.

• Also on the field but not practicing were CBs T.J. Heath and Kevin Rutland, S Matt Estrada and LB Jacob Cutrera. LB Russell Allen returned to drills after sitting out Saturday when he had a boot on.

• The Jaguars’ emphasis on turnovers seemed to continue to pay dividends as Derek Cox and Drew Coleman intercepted passes, and Austen Lane caused a fumble that was recovered by Tyson Alualu. At one point, though, coach Jack Del Rio appeared unhappy with the defense and told defenders to “slow down.”

• The Jaguars worked various combinations at the defensive end, including Lane and Leger Douzable, with the first unit. Aaron Kampman and Matt Roth also worked with the first unit.

• Gabbert continued to be up and down. In one sequence, he threw a nice pass down the middle to Cecil Shorts. But offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was apparently unhappy with Gabbert’s reads on the next two plays as he gestured and pointed.

Jaguars Notebook: Maurice Jones-Drew says he has no pain in knee

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew provided an upbeat report on the condition of his surgically repaired right knee Sunday after practicing in team drills Saturday night.

“I got to practice with the team the whole time, which was awesome. No swelling. No nothing. Everything is great, and I think that is a positive step in where we need to go,” he said.

He said he feels no pain in his knee after playing in pain all last year before being forced out of the lineup for the final two games.

“There’s just no pain at all. I think that’s the biggest thing. No matter how tough it is or how sharp the pain is or dull the pain is, it’s pain. This year, there is no pain,” Jones-Drew said.

Jones-Drew thinks he can carry the entire load and noted that he gets better the more he carries he gets, which is the case for most good running backs.

“You can get four or five carries in the first quarter and get two yards a carry, but as you keep wearing on the defense and you keep having longer drives and the defense tires down, those runs start to run into four or five yards,” Jones-Drew said. “Then they start to turn into nine or 10. Then you start seeing those big, long runs.”

Still, the Jaguars aren’t going to rush him back, and he won’t play Friday night in the preseason game against Atlanta at EverBank Field.

Jones-Drew said he hopes to see some action in the preseason, but added, “Right now, we’re just taking it one day at a time, seeing how things respond, how I’m practicing, if there is any soreness, anything.”

Once he does return, he will have the motivational tool to show he is still the same running back he was before the injury.

Insisting he’s last on the depth chart and working his way up, he said, “I just have to go out there and prove to my teammates and to the guys that are around me that I am back to who I used to be.”

Gabbert still prepares as if he is starter

Assuming that David Garrard’s back doesn’t flare up and he starts against the Falcons, rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert will return to his backup status.

But he said he will approach the game the same way he did in the opener against New England.

“Every quarterback approaches the game like they were starting, otherwise you are not going to be prepared,” Gabbert said. “If you’re going with the mind-set of, “Oh, I’m the third quarterback, I’m not going to play.’ You get two plays and two guys go down, you’re right in there. So you’re always going to have to be mentally prepared, no matter the situation you’re put into,” he said.

Gabbert, who was wearing a Nike cap, said he doesn’t have a deal with the company yet, but he might have one soon.

Offensive line gets passing grade

The Jaguars gave up four sacks against New England, but coach Jack Del Rio gave the offensive line a good review.

“It was actually a pretty good start for us,” Del Rio said. “I think we’re going to do some things better. … We’re bringing a few up to speed quickly, guys like Jason Spitz and [Tony] Moll that are coming in and finding themselves in the thick of things. It wasn’t a finished product by any means, but there were some good things on the tape.”

Of the problems in the game, Del Rio said, “We had a couple communication issues, in particular when [center] Brad [Meester] went out, that we’re going to easily fix. So it wasn’t really so much that much position breaking down as much as we just had a couple of things where a center that’s been here a week went the wrong way.”

Spitz is getting work at guard and center. Moll is working at right tackle, along with Guy Whimper, in place of Eben Britton. Britton is out with a back ailment.

Team has three night practices left

The Jaguars have three more night practices, with the final one Wednesday when they scrimmage Atlanta and then close training camp.

The Falcons are coming in a day early for the scrimmage and then will play the Jaguars on Friday night. Last year, the teams scrimmaged in Atlanta.

Del Rio is looking for a better showing than the team had in New England.

“Listen, it’s not fun to sit there and look at that [against the Patriots],” Del Rio said. “We’ve got a nice opportunity this week against a real quality opponent. There’s a standard here that we’re going to hold ourselves to, and we expect to play better football, and we’d like to see that get started this week.”